who had 13 goals and 22 assists this

who had 13 goals and 22 assists this

After five years back home in Russia Dak Prescott Jersey , Ilya Kovalchuk is ready to resume his Stanley Cup chase with the Los Angeles Kings.

The high-scoring forward agreed to a three-year, $18.75 million deal with the Kings on Saturday, choosing Los Angeles over several interested teams for his return to the NHL.

The 35-year-old Kovalchuk scored 816 points in 816 career games for the Atlanta Thrashers and the New Jersey Devils before leaving North America in 2013 for the Kontinental Hockey League’s SKA St. Petersburg. He led the KHL in scoring last season, and he was the MVP of the Olympic tournament in Pyeongchang while propelling the ”Olympic Athletes from Russia” to a gold medal.

”He gives us an added element of skill and scoring, along with a desire to win,” Kings general manager Rob Blake said.

Boston and San Jose were among the suitors for Kovalchuk, but the Kings made a top-dollar offer to add him to a lineup that could use another dependable goal-scorer. Kovalchuk is likely to be particularly important on the power play for the Kings, who ranked in the middle of the NHL standings in most team scoring categories.

Kovalchuk was the first Russian to be the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft when Atlanta chose him in 2001. He quickly became one of the NHL’s most consistent scorers with his wicked shot and hockey sense. He spent nearly eight years with the Thrashers and 3 seasons with the Devils, who acquired him in a trade in February 2010.

Kovalchuk will forever be the top scorer in the history of the Thrashers, who moved to Winnipeg one season after trading him to New Jersey. He shared the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal-scorer in 2004 with Rick Nash and Jarome Iginla Mike McGlinchey 49ers Jersey , yet his 41 goals that season were only the fifth-best total during a career in which he posted a pair of 52-goal seasons for the Thrashers.

Kovalchuk had little playoff success in his NHL career until 2012, when he reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Devils after leading the Eastern Conference playoffs in scoring. New Jersey lost the Final in six games to the Kings, with Kovalchuk scoring only one empty-net goal in the series.

The Kings and Kovalchuk have had mutual interest for many years. Los Angeles pursued him in free agency in 2010 before Kovalchuk got a massive contract to stay with the Devils.

Just three seasons into a 15-year, $100 million contract with New Jersey, Kovalchuk abruptly left the NHL for St. Petersburg amid complaints about North American taxes and the distance from his family. Kovalchuk and his wife have four children.

He won two KHL championships with St. Petersburg, and he scored 141 points in 113 games over the past two seasons against the KHL’s lesser competition. Kovalchuk became a five-time Olympian in February, when he scored five goals in six games for the Russians in the watered-down Pyeongchang tournament, which included no current NHL players.

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After winning 14 of 15 games and opening a 10-point lead in the Central Division, the Nashville Predators were due for a fall. Three games in four days against Toronto, Minnesota and Winnipeg — the last two on the road — provided the proper setup for a slump.

Three losses later Ronald Jones II Buccaneers Jersey , including Sunday night’s 5-4 shootout setback to Winnipeg, Nashville’s lead has been cut in half. That sets the stage for a little more drama in the regular season’s final two weeks as the Predators now lead hard-charging Jets by just five points with seven games left.

The schedule-maker provided Nashville with a providential three-game homestand, starting Tuesday night with Minnesota’s final visit of the regular season.

At 48-16-11, the Predators have 107 points, good for a one-point lead on Tampa Bay in the battle for the Presidents’ Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. To hold onto that, Nashville will look to end its brief skid against Minnesota.

Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis said the team should be encouraged by their performance in Winnipeg, where it managed a point on the second half of a back-to-back and came within a post — Kyle Turris beat Connor Hellebuyck but not the iron right before overtime ended — of two points.

“It’s not about Xs and Os so much,” Ellis said. “It’s about being on the puck first, hitting guys first and initiating stuff like that. Tonight, in a back-to-back versus that team Bradley Chubb Jersey , it was a good game for both sides.”

It was definitely a good game for Nashville’s backup goalie, Juuse Saros, who stopped 43 of 47 shots and gave his team a chance to leave Canada with two points. The rested Jets put 25 shots on Saros in the second period alone, and he made three clutch saves in overtime.

Pekka Rinne (40-11-4, 2.27 goals-against average, .928 save percentage), coming off consecutive losses for the first time since mid-December, should get the start in net against Minnesota. The Wild have beaten him all three times they’ve faced him this season, including a 4-1 verdict Saturday night that featured the ejection of Predators coach Peter Laviolette late in the third period.

Minnesota (42-24-9) had a chance to cap its weekend with a stirring come-from-behind win over Boston on Sunday night but ceded a Brad Marchand goal 28 seconds into overtime and fell 2-1 despite 26 saves from backup goalie Alex Stalock.

“We hit a couple of posts and we had a goal called back,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We got three of four points this weekend against two of the best teams in the league DJ Moore Panthers Jersey , so we’re holding our own. This was a big point.”

Minnesota enters with 93 points, three more than Colorado, and stands third in the Central. The Wild are 3-0-2 in their last five games but play five of their last seven on the road.

Devan Dubnyk (32-14-6, 2.60, .916), who owns three wins against Nashville this season, should get the call in net. Minnesota will get a fresh face in the lineup with the signing of Boston University standout Jordan Greenway, who had 13 goals and 22 assists this season for the Terriers. He’s expected to make his NHL debut in Nashville.